Cheverus girls blank Marshwood in prelim

PORTLAND—There are some great players in Class A South girls’ soccer, but it’s fair to say there is no triumvirate that can match Cheverus’ junior trio of Finley Brown, Sophia Monfa and Annie Vigue.

Friday afternoon at Boulos Stadium, all three players came up huge to help the fifth-ranked Stags prevail in their preliminary round playoff game versus No. 12 Marshwood.

Late in the first half, Brown began a sequence which ended with Vigue setting up Monfa for the game’s first goal.

Midway through the second half, Brown buried a penalty kick for some breathing room.

Then, just a few minutes later, Vigue got in the on the scoring fun, finishing a feed from Brown, and Cheverus went on to a 3-0 victory and the Stags, whose season began with such uncertainty, managed to win a playoff game for the sixth consecutive postseason.

Cheverus improved to 10-3-2, ended Marshwood’s season at 5-10 and advanced to take on No. 4 Thornton Academy (10-3-1) Tuesday at 6 p.m., in Saco.

“It’s hard to score goals in the playoffs, so to score three today is really good,” said Stags veteran coach Craig Roberts. “It’s never perfect in the playoffs, so for veteran players who are highly technical, it can be frustrating, but I had to commend them for working through it. The conditions weren’t conducive to making all the passes you want.”

Balance and depth

Cheverus started slowly this fall, but came on strong at the end (see sidebar, below, for links to previous stories) and earned a home playoff game.

Marshwood has been competitive throughout, losing five games by one goal (including two in overtime) and three more by two goals, and the Hawks wound up the final team in the Class A South playoff field.

Cheverus and Marshwood didn’t play this fall.

The teams had met six previous times in the playoffs (see sidebar), with the Hawks winning on four occasions, but last year, the Stags sprung an upset in South Berwick on penalty kicks.

This time around, on a drizzly afternoon (58 degrees at the start), Cheverus didn’t need any extra time, as it took advantage of its chances and advanced.

Cheverus junior Annie Vigue keeps the ball away from Marshwood defenders Aoife Coomey (1) and Sarah Theriault early in the Stags’ 3-0 victory Friday. Hoffer photos.

Marshwood came out fired up and took a shot just 15 seconds in, but a bid from Maddy Poitras went wide.

In the third minute, Cheverus junior goalkeeper Evelyn Rush was tested for the first time and denied a low shot from Riley Smith.

The Stags then started to test the Hawks’ defense, but a cross from Monfa to senior Sofia Pothier was snared by Marshwood goalkeeper Lana Emery, Brown missed just high after taking a pass from Monfa, junior Jillian Foley missed just wide, then sophomore Alaina Holmes hit the crossbar and Monfa set up Brown for a shot which Emery stopped.

After Rush kept the game scoreless by stopping a shot from Smith, Cheverus finally broke through.

The scoring play began innocently enough, as Brown won the ball in the middle of the field, then Vigue took off down the right side, Brown played her a perfect pass and Vigue took it deep down the field before crossing it to the far post where Monfa was waiting to bang it home for a 1-0 lead with 2:19 to go before halftime.

“I feel like we’ve really worked on our cohesiveness as a team,” said Brown. “Once we strung a few passes together, we gained confidence and that led to our first goal. I heard (Annie) call my name for the run and I saw the open space, so I just played the ball through.”

“I just saw (Annie) dribbling down the wing and I knew I had to get in,” said Monfa. “It felt really good. That got our spirit up. Ending the half up 1-0 was really important.”

“That goal is how you draw it up,” Roberts added. “It was a pretty goal. That allowed us to breathe a little easier. ‘Monf’ and Annie have a friendly competition going on. They’re both at 11 or 12 goals and 10 assists. They’re both so good. They complement each other well. They’re selfless. Last year, ‘Monf’ was new and it was tough sledding. They didn’t know how to play together, but they’ve figured it out this year. They work tremendously hard and play the right way.”

The Stags entered the second half knowing the importance of adding to the lead and they would eventually do so.

Cheverus freshman Addie Jordan fights with Marshwood’s Rowan Waddell for possession.

Early in the half, Emery robbed Pothier point blank, then saved a shot from Vigue.

After Rush preserved the lead by saving a one-timer by Smith, Cheverus got an insurance goal with 23:59 left.

Holmes beat the defense into the box, then was taken down from behind and a penalty kick was awarded.

Brown did the honors and she fired a low shot to the left of Emery and in to make it 2-0.

“I just try to stay as calm as I can and just take some deep breaths,” Brown said. “Once I made it, it boosted the morale of the team to continue to push.”

Four minutes later, with 19:37 on the clock, the Stags put it away, as Brown got the ball to Vigue, who made a move, then hit a shot that Emery got a hand on but couldn’t stop.

“Finley has made all the right passes,” said Roberts. “If she hasn’t been the best player on the field, she’s been one of them. She’s stepped up her game and she started playing like she did all summer and in the preseason. She makes really good decisions.”

The Hawks had a couple more looks, but Aoife Coomey missed wide, then Poitras was denied by Rush in the final minute, allowing Cheverus to run out the clock and celebrate its 3-0 victory.

Cheverus junior goalkeeper Evelyn Rush is congratulated by her teammates following Friday’s victory.

“I feel like as a younger team we had to work on trusting each other,” said Brown. “We’ve worked together and it’s built our confidence.”

“We persisted throughout,” Roberts said. “We didn’t get too high or too low and kept plugging away. We have a lot of players who had no playoff experience coming in. It was really good to see them get that experience.”

The Stags enjoyed an 11-4 advantage in shots on frame and got four saves from Rush. They also took six corner kicks to Marshwood’s two.

The Hawks got four saves from Emery.

Saco bound

Cheverus’ biggest win of the regular season came Sept. 13, when the Stags edged host Thornton Academy, 2-1, to give Roberts his 100th victory with the program. Vigue and sophomore Rachel LaSalle scored the goals and Rush made seven saves.

Cheverus and Thornton Academy have never met in the postseason.

The Stags are hoping to keep the good times rolling.

“We’ll make sure we’re not too confident or under-confident,” said Monfa. “We know we can do it.”

“I think staying composed will be a big factor against TA,” Brown said. “We have to just play simple. That will help us.”

“There are a lot of positives to take out of this,” Roberts added. “We have a big challenge Tuesday at TA. They’re playing really well. Both teams have changed a lot since (our first game). At that point of the season, we did what we needed to do to win and it was a big win for us for confidence. We’ll try to figure it out. We have nothing to lose. We’ll have to show up focused and ready to go.”